Three faculty members elected to the National Academy of Sciences

In 2020 so far, Northwestern has had a total of 15 faculty elected to the National Academies (engineering, sciences and education) as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This is the most elections for Northwestern in any year over the past decade. National Academy of Medicine members typically are selected in fall.

Three Northwestern University faculty members — mathematician Laura DeMarco, engineer Yonggang Huang and materials scientist Samuel Stupp — have been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Membership in the academy is one of the highest honors given to a scientist in the United States.

DeMarco, Huang and Stupp are among 120 new members and 26 new international members elected this year in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. They will be inducted at the academy’s annual meeting next year.

Laura DeMarco

Her research is focused on the dynamics of polynomial and rational mappings on algebraic varieties, especially in dimension 1, with the primary goal of understanding notions of stability and bifurcation. Her recent work explores connections between dynamical systems and arithmetic geometry.

Notable honors include the 2017 Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize in Mathematics from the American Mathematical Society, a Simons Foundation fellowship, a National Science Foundation CAREER award and a Sloan Fellowship. DeMarco became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society in the inaugural class of 2012. She also has been an organizer of the award-winning Graduate Research Opportunities for Women (GROW) conference, designed to inspire young women from across the country to pursue graduate work in math.

Yonggang Huang

Huang is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering. Huang develops models for stretchable and flexible electronics. His work has led to major advancements in bio-integrated electronics for health monitoring.

Huang has received many other awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Prager Medal from the Society of Engineering Sciences, the Drucker Medal and Nadai Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Bazant Medal and von Karman Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Huang is a highly cited researcher in engineering, materials science and physics.

Samuel Stupp

Stupp is Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering in McCormick, Weinberg College and Feinberg School of Medicine.

Samuel Stupp

Stupp’s work integrates chemistry with materials science, biology and medicine. The overarching interest of his research group is the development of self-assembling organic materials, focusing on functions relevant to energy and medicine. One of his landmark achievements was the development of bioactive materials that can signal cells and be used in novel therapies for regenerative medicine.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Spanish Royal Academy, and the National Academy of Inventors, and a fellow of the American Physical Society, the Materials Research Society, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.